Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 87 The Killer Move

Amidst the deafening cheers at Old Trafford, Yang Fan and the Manchester United players quickly made their way into the players' tunnel.

Leading 1-0 at halftime is a pretty good advantage for Manchester United.

But how should we play in the second half?

That's the key point!

When Yang Fan pushed open the door and entered the locker room, he found the players sitting in their seats, panting heavily.

Everyone was drenched in sweat and exhausted.

But the eyes of each of them looking at Yang Fan were filled with hunger and eager anticipation!

Yang Fan knows this stuff all too well.

Just like in his previous life, when he had just completed a project and successfully led a company to go public, everyone below was shining with excitement when he was in a meeting to distribute bonuses.

But now, Yang Fan has to temporarily suppress these thoughts.

"There's still a second half!"

"Our tactics in the first half were very successful."

"Bayern had 81% possession, while we only had 19%, but that doesn't matter."

"In terms of shots on goal, Bayern had 6 and we had 4, which is not much different."

"Most importantly, out of 10 shots in the first half, only 2 were on target, and we created both of them. This proves that our tactics are working!"

The players were all invigorated after hearing Yang Fan's words.

After Yang Fan finished speaking, Mike Phelan began to analyze the problems that occurred in the first half.

Overall, Manchester United's targeted defense worked.

But Bayern Munich is no pushover either.

For example, as soon as Guardiola saw that things were not going well, he immediately made adjustments, often having Robben and Ribery on the same side.

Towards the end of the first half, Mandzukic was no longer stationed in the middle, but frequently drifted to the wings and dropped back.

All of these factors increased the difficulty of Manchester United's defense.

However, Bayern Munich still prefers to keep Manchester United within their 30-meter zone, making their defense very flat.

At the same time, the full-backs' overlapping runs effectively stretch the defensive line.

Just as Yang Fan just saw, when Bayern received the ball outside the 30-meter zone, there were sometimes as many as five attackers closely marking the front line of Manchester United's penalty area.

Alaba, Ribery, Robben, Lahm, Rafinha, and others are all players with excellent footwork, who are not tall but are quite agile.

Manchester United's targeted strategy was to establish two lines of defense in front of the penalty area.

In particular, Yang Fan made Valencia and Ashley Young drop back more actively, playing more like full-backs.

Cleverley, Carrick, and Fellaini and Rooney, who occasionally dropped back, formed a barrier in front of the defense.

The biggest difference between Guardiola's time coaching Barcelona and his time coaching Barcelona is that his attack is more three-dimensional and his methods are more diverse.

Mandzukic's starting position proves this point.

However, Manchester United's targeted defense also proved effective.

"Judging from the first half, our defense against Mandzukic was very successful."

"Robben was almost invisible for most of the game, but there were a few instances where Ribery and Robben connected, which deserves our special attention."

Paul Brand, as a game analyst, analyzed the problems that arose during the game, and he focused on one particular scenario.

Ribery receives the ball and cuts inside, or he drops back in the middle to receive the ball and dribbles forward.

When Mandzukic dropped back and pulled out the center-back position, Robben moved up to cover the back line.

What is the biggest advantage of Dutch wingers?

speed!

Even though he is old, he is still quite fast.

Moreover, he has extremely strong personal abilities.

"That's right, there were several times when I felt Robben was going to run behind me." Smalling was also still shaken.

Everyone became tense.

This tactic often only works once, resulting in a one-on-one opportunity or even a goal.

As one of the world's top coaches, Guardiola is truly impeccable in terms of tactical details.

The means of organizing an attack are extremely diverse.

As Yang Fan listened to his assistants' analysis and heard the players' firsthand accounts, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Tony Cross!

Do you remember what he said about Barcelona's problems?

Barcelona lacks a midfielder like Toni Kroos, who can move the ball long distances quickly and accurately.

"Paul!"

Yang Fan suddenly realized a very serious problem.

Because in the first half, the Tony Cross he saw was not a number 10 at all.

This guy often retreats deeper than Piglet and Ram.

And it's closer to the left side.

At the time, he was also saying, "Did Real Madrid's technical team see this, which is why they got Toni Kroos's user manual?"

Now, however, he has realized a potential crisis.

Everyone looked at the head coach in surprise, completely bewildered.

"Let's take a look at Tony Cross's activity heatmap for the first half of the game."

Paul Brand was quite surprised, but he immediately did as instructed.

The activity heatmap shows that Tony Cross's activity area is exactly the same as what Yang Fan saw and expected.

"You see, he often drops back very deep, and always on the left flank, or even the left side of the flank."

"That's normal," Mike Phelan replied. "He's there to cover Alaba and Ribery's backline."

"That's right!"

Yang Fan agreed with this view, but he thought about it more deeply.

"Do you guys remember the match where Tony Kroos made his name at Bayer Leverkusen?"

Tony Cross's breakout match was very impressive.

Yang Fan had forgotten the specific details of the match, but he generally remembered that he played as a left winger, making consecutive right-footed diagonal passes from the left flank into the penalty area to find the center forward.

Mike Phelan and Steve Lund, both experienced coaches, immediately grasped Yang Fan's meaning.

"Are you worried that Guardiola is using Toni Kroos to find Mandzukic or Robben?"

Yang Fan shook his head and instead picked up a pen to draw a red line on the tactics board.

From Toni Kroos on the left flank, the ball connects directly to Rafinha on the right flank of the attacking third.

"His long passes are fast and accurate."

"I didn't see him pass like that in the first half," Mike Phelan shook his head.

"What if he passes like that in the second half? When our energy is depleted to a certain extent and the players start to get tired, Guardiola can suddenly use this tactic, first having Alaba and Ribery launch a strong attack on the left flank to draw the defense's attention."

"When we've pulled our entire defensive formation over here, pass back to Tony Cross and suddenly switch to the right wing —"

Lore!

The locker room fell completely silent!

Yang Fan had seen this kind of fighting style far too often in his previous life.

This is Tony Cross's specialty!

More importantly, isn't Guardiola emphasizing a three-dimensional attack?

Isn't this it?

"Think about it, if they actually did that, how should we respond?"

Yang Fan raised a question.

With only a few minutes left before the second half kicks off, we must come up with a strategy!

At the same time, in the away team's locker room, Guardiola forcefully bent down and swept all the mineral water bottles in front of him to the ground, looking like an out-of-control, enraged lion.

"You guys played like a pile of dog shit for the entire first half!"

"I told you guys, don't rush, don't rush, pass the ball, pass the ball, make a run, make a run! What are you all doing?"

In Bayern's locker room, the only sound was Guardiola's roar.

"That was a team far inferior to us. They only made it to the semifinals by sheer luck. But what about you?"

'

"The first half was like this: defensively, we conceded a goal, and offensively, we didn't even get a single shot on target."

"Tell me, what went wrong?"

The Bayern players in the locker room were all silent with fear.

Someone picked up a water bottle to drink, but halfway up, they were too scared to move.

In his fury, Guardiola quickly let out a heavy sigh and calmed himself down.

"We must make adjustments in the second half."

"I cannot accept a 0-1 scoreline, and neither can Bayern Munich fans!"

"Mario".

Guardiola pointed to Mandzukic sitting to the side.

"Manchester United have a series of defensive measures in place for you. They know your playing habits, have studied your playing preferences, and also know your weaknesses."

"So, your task for the second half needs to be adjusted. There's only one thing: disrupt the game!"

"Completely disrupt the penalty area and turn the opponent's defense into a complete mess."

"Only when things are in chaos will we have a chance!"

Mandzukic nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Frank and Arjen, your connections in the flanks and the middle of the field were quite effective in the first half."

"But Manchester United clearly wanted to separate you."

"In the second half, Mario will be responsible for creating space, drifting wide or dropping back, while Arjen will be responsible for making runs from deep. Schweinsteiger and Lahm, you need to be more aggressive, faster, and more decisive in your runs from deep!"

Schweinsteiger and Lahm both nodded in agreement.

"We need at least one goal, but Manchester United's defense has started to park the bus. We need to stretch the defense and create more gaps so that we can have opportunities in the middle."

"Tony!"

Guardiola looked at Toni Kroos.

"When we're attacking down the left flank, you're still responsible for staying back, making runs into open spaces, receiving back passes, and if there's an opportunity, making diagonal passes behind the defense to Schweinsteiger, Lahm, and Arjen for their runs into the box."

"Or we could pass diagonally to Rafinha; that side is definitely open!"

"This trump card was originally saved for dealing with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, but we can't afford to use it now."

Guardiola was very uncomfortable when he said this.

He himself never expected that the powerful Bayern Munich would be pushed to this extent by Manchester United.

Zhenzhen deserves to die!

Especially that newbie.

Wait, is he really a newbie?

"Everyone, let me say a few more words."

Everyone immediately focused their attention and looked intently at Guardiola.

"A score of 0-1 is unacceptable to us. We must score, even if it's 1-2, it would be better than this."

"Therefore, we can be a bit more aggressive in our tactics in the second half."

"I believe that with our ability, if we can break through Manchester United's goal, we will score more than one goal."

"I dare say, if we lose to Manchester United tonight at Old Trafford, we'll become a laughingstock throughout Europe, and even the world, tomorrow!"

"Their head coach isn't even qualified to coach!"

"Can you accept this?" Guardiola asked rhetorically.

Many players shook their heads.

"I know everyone's been working incredibly hard lately, with continuous battles. Let's grit our teeth and hang in there!"

"In the second half, we will turn the tide against Manchester United at Old Trafford and try to end all suspense in one leg!"

"good!"

Bayern Munich players responded in unison.

The second half began after Manchester United kicked off, with Vidic making a hasty long pass to clear the ball after being pressed by Mandzukic.

Without any suspense, possession of the ball quickly fell to Bayern Munich.

The Bundesliga champions regained possession and began to organize and plan their attacks.

From the very beginning, Bayern players displayed an aggressive and imposing style.

After winning the ball, they first tried to launch an attack from the right flank, but their efforts were thwarted at the midfield line. They immediately passed the ball back and switched the position to the left flank.

After halftime, Manchester United reverted to the strategy they used at the start of the first half.

They played steadily and their defense was also very flexible.

Van Persie even pressed Bayern's half to the bottom of the center circle to challenge Boateng and Dante.

Once the ball crossed the halfway line, Manchester United steadily retreated to defend.

It is very orderly, yet also very flexible.

Aside from one attempt to find Alaba with a long pass, which was cleared by Valencia's header, Bayern essentially reverted to passing the ball around.

The tug-of-war phase was similar to the first half.

But Yang Fan still sensed something unusual.

Because after Bayern started the second half, several of their attacks were launched down the left flank.

Every time the ball reached the frontcourt, Tony Kroos would drop back.

Yang Fan felt something was off.

In the second half, Manchester United attacked from right to left, so Ashley Young was on Yang Fan's side.

Taking advantage of a dead ball situation, Yang Fan secretly reminded him.